<p>ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos did his best to run cover for ousted CNN anchor Don Lemon — but Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche quickly pushed back.</p>
<p>Stephanopoulos spoke with Blanche during Sunday morning&#8217;s broadcast of &#8220;This Week,&#8221; where they discussed the Justice Department&#8217;s move to arrest Lemon over his participation in a protest that disrupted a Sunday service at a Minneapolis church days earlier. Despite video that appears to show him conferring with the protesters prior to their coordinated incursion, Lemon has insisted that he was simply acting as a journalist at the time and had nothing to do with the protest itself.</p>
<p><strong>WATCH:</strong></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">🚨 HOLY CRAP! Deputy AG Todd Blanche just CALLED OUT Fake News ABC George Stephanopoulos to his FACE for running cover for Don Lemon storming a church</p>
<p>&#8220;CONVENIENTLY missing from what you just showed, George, is the appellate court and a judge on the appellate court who said just… <a href="https://t.co/xXMd06A5hm">pic.twitter.com/xXMd06A5hm</a></p>
<p>— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) <a href="https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/2017972800217059798?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 1, 2026</a></p></blockquote>
<p>&#8220;When do you believe that Mr. Lemon crossed the line from reporting what was going on to criminal activity?&#8221; Stephanopoulos asked.</p>
<p>&#8220;Conveniently missing from what you just showed, George, is the appellate court and a judge on the appellate court who said just a few days later there was clearly probable cause — and it wasn&#8217;t even a close question!&#8221; Blanche shot back.</p>
<p>&#8220;And by the way, a grand jury, which is what our system has set up to determine whether probable cause exists, concluded that there was probable cause!&#8221; he continued. &#8220;That indictment is now public. Everybody in this country can pull it up and read for themselves and see what the grand jury found that Mr. Lemon did. I am not going to comment on the charges specifically because that&#8217;s not appropriate.&#8221;</p>
<p>Blanche went on to talk about the protest as a whole, arguing that disrupting a church service and attempting to intimidate those who were just there to worship was a violation of their First Amendment rights to practice religion without being harassed while doing so.</p>
<p>&#8220;We talk about the First Amendment right. You have a right of freedom of religion, which is just as important as any other right that we have!&#8221; he explained. &#8220;And George, I don&#8217;t know if you&#8217;ve watched the videos or read the indictment about what it&#8217;s alleged that Mr. Lemon did, but if anybody in this country thinks that that is quote, independent journalism, I would like to have a conversation with you.&#8221;</p>
<p>Blanche concluded by saying that Lemon was certainly entitled to hire an attorney and raise any defense he saw fit, but that protesters should not be allowed to feel comfortable disrupting church services and intimidating those who had just come to worship.</p>
<p>President Donald Trump, aboard Air Force One on Saturday, minced no words when delivering his opinion of the former CNN anchor — but said that he had not known Lemon was going to be arrested.</p>
<p>&#8220;He’s a sleazebag! Everyone’s known that. He’s a washed up,&#8221; Trump said. &#8220;Probably from his standpoint, the best thing that could happen to him. He had no viewers. He was a failed host. And now, he’s in the news. I didn’t know anything about it.&#8221;</p>

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ABC Host And Top Trump Official Spar Over Don Lemon Arrest